Tales from the classic world
Rick’s museum tour guiding prompts musings on the blueprint for modern bikes being created 100 years ago
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THANKS TO everybody who resisted the lure of Henry Cole’s stage show at the National Motor Cycle Museum ‘Live’ event to attend my museum tours. I had a great weekend – although it started badly, finding my van wasn’t charging the night before driving up. Luckily I managed to sort-of fix it – but still took three ‘spare’ car batteries, a charger, long extension lead and jump leads for insurance!
The reason I do these tours is that, like most museums, the National suffers from an embarrassment of riches. Having marvelled at the pedals, levers, rods and wires on the first veteran bike you see, you’re likely to pass an aisle of brightly nickelled acetylene headlamps without another glance. So it’s easy to miss all the developments made over the most innovative time in motorcycle design history.
Crazy as it sounds, by 1920 the motorcycle as we know it today was already here – brakes on both wheels, pneumatic tyres, front (and sometimes rear) suspension, countershaft gearboxes, multiplate clutches, chain drive, effective carburettors, spark plug ignition powered by efficient self-generating ignition systems, two or four-stroke petrol engines with various capacities in racing, sports, touring or commuting guise – sound familiar?
Even in the ’30s people were predicting rocket power and personal helicopters within 20 years – but probably the only thing that would puzzle a 1920 designer today is electronics. So with my talks, I try to use the bikes to illustrate the evolution that’s led us (for better or worse) to current designs.
WHO IS RICK?
Rick Parkington has been riding and fixing classic bikes for decades. He lives and fettles in a fully tooled up shed in his back garden.
While driving home, it struck me that although this cen
